Hamburg, NY — Things sure looked bleak for Won For Gigi when she was a locked-in seventh with a quarter mile to pace in Buffalo Raceway’s $15,500 Open Pace for fillies and mares on Wednesday afternoon (June 14). But driver James McNeight Jr. somehow wiggled Won For Gigi out, swung five-wide in the stretch drive, and the Santanna Blue Chip mare posted a stunning come-from-behind $40.80 victory over Filly Speaks in 1:56.4 over a fast track.
Bank The Win battled with the favored Miss Rockadali for command in the early going. After notching fractions of :28, :57.1 and 1:26.3, Bank The Win (David McNeight III) was bracing for the assault from the closers down the lane. Filly Speaks, Miss Rockadali and Isla Seelster were all within serious striking distance with Won For Gigi still just an afterthought. But the complexion of the race soon changed as Won For Gigi, who arrived from Northfield Park off three consecutive second-place finishes, was now on the scene, flying five-wide down the stretch to shock Filly Speaks (Kyle Cummings) by a half length with Miss Rockadali (Jim Morrill Jr.) taking third.
Owned and trained by Cory Deyermand, the 9-year-old Won For Gigi has won twice in 21 starts on the season, earning $22,903 and $255,996 in her lifetime.
The $11,500 sub-featured pace for the ladies wasn’t as dramatic as Fox Valley Charliz ($3.50) had no issues in rolling to a 3-1/2 length win over Bet I’m Lucky in 1:56.4.
After a narrow three-quarter-length loss on May 31 in this class, Fox Valley Charliz left nothing to chance this time. Dropping in third early, Fox Valley Charliz wanted the lead and Morrill gave her instructions to go. With fractions of :29.1, :58.4 and 1:28.1 in the books, Fox Valley Charliz had to deal with Bet I’m Lucky (McNeight Jr.) and Dragon Sparks (Joseph Chindano Jr.) at the top of stretch. Those rallies never materialized as Fox Valley Charliz cruised home uncontested.
Co-owned by Jeffrey Fox and Eric Cohen and conditioned by Christopher Petrelli, the 9-year-old Fox Valley Charliz notched her third win in 12 appearances on the campaign, moving her bankroll to $34,905 on the year and $272,102 lifetime.
Kevin Cummings, David McNeight III and James McNeight Jr. all had driving doubles on the program.
Racing at Buffalo will continue on Friday afternoon (June 16) at 2:30 p.m. with an 11-race program to be presented. For more information, including the latest news, upcoming promotions, entries, results and race replays, go to buffaloraceway.com.